This is New Year’s Day, 2024, AND Anunoby‘s first game as a Knick.
He puts up 17 points, six rebounds, and is +19 in a win over Minnesota – the perfect debut.
About 40 minutes into the game, Tom Thibodeau walks through the bowels of Madison Square Garden, he sees a familiar face, stops and smiles. It’s Karl Towns Sr. The two men shake hands, hug and share a laugh.
Towns Sr. go to the Garden exits. Thibodeau makes his way to the home locker room.
They probably don’t see each other for the rest of the season, but Towns Sr. and Thibs will cross much more often this year.
Leo Rose and the Knicks executed theirs third bestseller of the last 10 months on Friday, agreeing in principle to acquire Minnesota Cities for a package centered around Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo.
WHY THE KNICKS WANTED CITIES
The Knicks have long been linked to Cities. Rose was his agent when he was the head of CAA. Towns Sr. attended Rose’s first game as Knicks president. Rose and New York executive William Wesley are close friends of the Towns family.
They have periodically registered with Minnesota for Cities, dating back to at least last summer.
But there never seemed to be much traction. As recently as last week, people with the Knicks told associates that they were ready to start the season with Randle and see how it went.
DiVincenzo was one of the registration points. Minnesota coveted him. New York was reluctant to move him, but with the start of training camp looming, the Knicks recently got out of that stance. This pushed the deal forward and got it across the finish line.
You knew the Knicks were competing for a title when they traded Mikal Bridges three months ago. The Towns trade was another all-in move for a team that will have a sky-high payroll for the next few seasons.
But New York is obviously bullish on the investment.
In Towns, the Knicks feel they’ve found a player who complements the rest of their core (Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, AND Anunoby, Josh Hart) extremely well. Towns is the best perimeter shooting big man in the NBA. He forces defenses to pull a defender out of the paint, thereby spreading the floor for his teammates.
His presence should open the lane for Brunson to attack and create advantages for New York. He can also play in the post and draw a double team there. Towns’ presence will make it difficult for teams to catch Brunson and turn on pick-and-rolls.
Sure, there are questions about the Knick’s interior defense after the trade.
The bottom line is this: with Mitchell Robinson outside, the Knicks had an obvious need at center. By landing a four-time All Star and two-time All NBA player in Towns, they feel they have accomplished a great opportunity to fill the need. And with their core all under the age of 30, the Knicks also feel the addition of Towns gives them a strong chance to compete for several years down the line.
Are these feelings correct? We will find out over the next three years.
WHO ELSE IS IN THE BUSINESS?
The details of the trade were still being worked out late on Friday night, but Charlotte is expected to join the deal to help facilitate it.
Here’s how things are shaping up: The Knicks will ship DaQuan Jeffries as part of the agreement. To help satisfy league trade rules, they will sign and trade Jeffries to a deal that starts at around $3 million.
New York will also ship Keita Bates-Diop in the business. They can make the math work by adding Charlie Brown and Duane Washington Jr. in sign-and-trades, as Yossi Gozlan notes.
Additionally, the Knicks will send Minnesota a protected first-round pick (acquired from Detroit) and the Hornets will also receive draft compensation for their help in facilitating the deal.
Trade talks were first reported by The Athletic. The Athletic and ESPN first reported several trade details.
WHY DONT?
As noted above, the Knicks have long resisted including DiVincenzo in the trade. I don’t know exactly why they changed their mind.
DiVincenzo set the franchise single-season record for three-pointers made last season. He knocked down one of the biggest triples in the last two decades in that thrilling Game Two win over Philadelphia.
But with the moves made this offseason, DiVincenzo will likely come off the bench this season. Bridges probably would have taken his place in the starting lineup.
I can say with confidence that DiVincenzo didn’t exactly love the idea of playing fewer minutes/reduced role this season. He was coming off a career year and helped the team win a bunch of games when it was shorthanded.
I don’t think any competitor would be thrilled with the idea of taking a reduced role in this situation.
This is just a guess, but I don’t think the issue described above played a major role – if at all – in the Knicks’ decision to move DiVincenzo. They were against moving him for much of the offseason.
Perhaps the training camp deadline combined with Randle’s looming contract situation and the length of Robinson’s absence made the Knicks more motivated to complete the trade.
